Little Lambs (Longlevens) Ltd

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision requires improvement Children are settled at the nursery and form secure relationships with the staff who care for them. Staff in the baby room support the youngest children to engage in a range of play activities that support their individual interests and next steps in learning. They offer praise and encouragement and gently hold out their hands to support babies who attempt to walk across the room.

Staff in the toddler room encourage children to explore the sensory experiences on offer. Young children use their imagination as they pretend to feed the dinosaurs. They develop good hand-to-eye coordination as they carefully thread cereal hoops onto a ...piece of string.

However, staff in the pre-school room are not as successful in promoting children's engagement in learning activities. This means that older children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), do not make the best progress in their learning and development. Staff do not always organise themselves or resources well enough, and children sometimes lose focus and wander aimlessly around the room.

Pre-school staff do not recognise this or adapt their practice to re-engage children until prompted by the manager. When prompted, staff set up some small-group activities, which promotes more purposeful learning. Older children demonstrate some early literacy skills.

They match letters and sounds correctly and are beginning to identify the initial letter in their name.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

The nursery is inclusive and welcomes all children. The special educational needs coordinator works in partnership with parents to develop individual learning plans to support children's progress.

However, not all staff supporting children with SEND have the knowledge and skills to successfully engage the children in good-quality learning experiences. They do not consistently implement strategies outlined in children's individual learning plans. As a result, important learning opportunities are missed.

The quality of teaching is variable across the nursery. Although staff plan some meaningful group activities to promote young children's understanding of feelings and emotions, they do not consider the organisation or delivery of activities to promote children's level of engagement. For example, two members of staff sit alongside a large group of children while one member of staff reads to them.

Staff do not ensure that there are enough resources, such as story props, to encourage all children to actively participate. As a result, some children are passive members of the group and do not engage with the rest of the group.The manager has many years' experience of managing a nursery.

However, she is relatively new in post at this nursery and is aware of some weaknesses in practice. She has worked hard to build relationships with her new staff team and is supportive of them, often stepping into rooms to work alongside them. Although the manager regularly holds informal discussions with staff, she is yet to implement effective supervision and monitoring procedures to identify staff's specific training needs.

The manager acknowledges that the introduction of these procedures will allow her to better identify training and mentoring opportunities and improve the quality of teaching to a consistently good level.Staff plan activities which prepare children for their upcoming move to school. Each school's logo is displayed on the wall in the pre-school room, which helps children to become familiar with these.

Staff share written documents with children's new teachers to inform them of their learning and development. However, fully effective partnerships are not yet in place for all settings children currently attend and move on to, to promote a more consistent approach to children's learning and development.Care practices are effective.

Staff seek children's permission to change their nappy and remind children to wash their hands before mealtimes. Staff wear a hat when playing outside to support children's understanding of how to keep safe in the sun. They have a suitable awareness of safer sleeping practices and check on young children regularly to ensure that they are safe and well.

Staff support children's early literacy skills with focused learning in each room and a 'book of the month'. Children build familiarity with stories and recall key parts. They accurately make links between the colours of characters and how they are feeling.

Children use the vocabulary of emotions. For example, they say that 'yellow' is 'happy' and 'green' is 'calm'.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage, the provider must: Due date improve staff's knowledge and understanding of supporting children with SEND and ensure that identified learning strategies are consistently followed so that children with SEND make better progress 19/08/2024 implement effective procedures for the supervision of staff and identify professional development opportunities to raise the quality of teaching to a consistently good level.19/08/2024 To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen the organisation of staff and resources to help all children remain focused and engaged in their learning develop partnerships with other settings children attend and move on to, to fully promote consistency and continuity in children's learning and development.